McCabe: 10 storylines leading into FedEx Cup playoffs

McCabe: 10 storylines leading into FedEx Cup playoffs

There’s something better in Denmark (potential Ryder Cup points) for Shane Lowry and something better at home (rest) for Danny Willett. For Sergio Garcia, there’s always something better than a FedEx Cup playoff (he has missed at least one in three of the last four seasons), whatever it may be.

Beyond those three, 122 qualifiers are expected to tee it up Thursday at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, N.Y., for The Barclays, Tournament 1 of the PGA Tour playoffs.

Given that it’s in its 10th season, the FedEx Cup playoffs offer a blueprint you’re familiar with: Top 125 start at The Barclays, top 100 advance to Deutsche Bank Championship outside of Boston, top 75 to the BMW Championship in Chicago, then top 30 make the Tour Championship in Atlanta.

That much isn’t new, but these 10 storylines are.

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1. Will Rory McIlroy salvage his season?

Call the postseason a mulligan for the 27-year-old whose PGA Tour numbers ($2.6 million, five top-5 finishes) look respectable, but he knows the season hasn’t been fun.

He came into 2016 looking to re-establish himself as No. 1. Instead, he has fallen to No. 5.

Yes, he won the Irish Open, but MCs at the U.S. Open and PGA gnaw at him, and his decision to bypass the Olympics and his subsequent comments bothered even his fans.

He’s better than that — as a person and a player. The playoffs will offer him a chance to show it.

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2. Whither Rickie Fowler?

Everyone loves Rickie — and why not? He acts well, says the right things and went to Rio when others bailed. But if he doesn’t find that extra gear, will he get to the Ryder Cup?

He has broken 70 in just two of his last 10 Sunday rounds and is 12th in the standings. A huge week at Bethpage will help. If not, remember 2012?

3. Can Graeme McDowell make it to East Lake?

Three times in the last four years, the former U.S. Open champion has advanced to the BMW, but he never has gotten all of the prizes (i.e., exemptions into the majors) that go to the guys who get to Round 4.

That would be a big deal to the 37-year-old, as his world ranking has slipped to 78th. But with his FEC number at a robust 27, a trip to East Lake is within reach to make sure his streak of consecutive appearances in the majors (34) continues.

And, no, he’s not out of the Ryder Cup mix.

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4. Can he be Smylie again?

He was the rage early on, winning in just his second PGA Tour start, but the latter part of this season has been tough for Smylie Kaufman.

The 24-year-old has missed the cut in seven of his last 10 tournaments, and there’s been just one top 10 in a full-field event since Vegas in November.

Good news: His torrid start has enabled him to keep a lofty FEC standing (26th).

Bad news: He needs to turn things around should he want to make it to the Tour Championship as a rookie, something Daniel Berger did in 2015.

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5. Somehow, these six are still looking for a win

Combined, their numbers are impressive — 44 top 10s, 20 top-3s, more than $20 million in prize money. But here’s one number that must gnaw at Phil Mickelson, Patrick Reed, Kevin Chappell, Kevin Na, Matt Kuchar and Brooks Koepka: Zero.

As in, their victories in 2015-16.

Now, when you’re 46 and have won 42 times (Mickelson) a winless season feels differently than when you’re 30 and never won (Chappell), but here’s a guess that all six of these players are seeing the playoffs as the perfect time to kick down the door on which they’ve been knocking all season.

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6. Prepare for more “Bubba babble”

Assured a spot in the Tour Championship for a seventh time in 10 years, Bubba Watson can rev up his annual critique of East Lake.

Last year: “This golf course always beats me. Very tricky for me with the rough . . . I don’t know what kind of grass it is, but it catches flyers all the time.”

In ’14 he knew the grass: “The Bermuda . . . for me it’s not good. It’s a very difficult course for me. But I love it.”

7. So, about the U.S. Ryder Cup picture

Only Davis Love knows if he envisioned going into the last tournament for Ryder Cup points with Bubba Watson, Matt Kuchar and Rickie Fowler all outside the cutoff or if he thought that assistant captain Jim Furyk would even be in the mix.

But huge money is on the line at Barclays (1,530 points to the winner) so it’s conceivable that two players — Bill Haas and J.B. Holmes, for instance — could move back into the top eight, meaning Love would have to decide his four picks from among a group of Zach Johnson, Patrick Reed, Watson, Kuchar, Fowler and Furyk.

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8. Russell Knox’s breakthrough season continues

There are European Ryder Cup implications at The Barclays, too.
Front and center, the unheralded Scotsman. He’s very much part of captain Darren Clarke’s thinking, and why not, given his two wins, two seconds and $4.5 million in PGA Tour prize money.

Assuming Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer are locks, Clarke has one captain’s pick. Knox could make that an easy choice should he play very well at The Barclays. But should Clarke take another route (Thomas Pieters, Shane Lowry, Graeme McDowell or Luke Donald), Knox still has this: A Tour Championship berth after narrowly missing in 2014 and ’15.

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9. Charles Howell III comes back

He is the son of a surgeon, so when Charles Howell III tells you that he had surgery to remove submandibular and sublingual glands . . . well, you still Google to be sure. Indeed, Howell nailed the spellings.

“Not cancer, thank goodness,” Howell said, confirming that he will return from a six-week break to play The Barclays. “I can’t wait.”

Howell has been practicing for 10 days and returns with serious incentives on the line. At 39th in the standings, he figures to get three starts and has a very real chance to crack the top 30 for the first time since 2011.

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10. Will rest translate into playoff success?

Four of the top five names in the FEC standings — Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, Adam Scott and Jordan Spieth — said no to the Olympics. None has played since the PGA, a rest that may prove helpful to Johnson and Spieth as each faces five tournaments in six weeks.

Are Olympic medalists Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson similarly ready? Stenson (14th in FEC) is assured of an East Lake spot, but Rose (51st) needs a push.

Marquee names didn’t agree on the Olympics, but they all concur that the schedule needs to be managed better in 2020. The upcoming stretch may prove that, for sure.